Lionel Scaloni writes his own commandments as Argentina eye Netherlands clash
Lionel Scaloni, Head Coach of Argentina, gestures during the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 Group C match between Argentina and Mexico at Lusail Stadium on November 26, 2022 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
DOHA, December 8, 2022 - Argentina manager Lionel Scaloni regards Louis van Gaal as an eminence. But more for what the Dutchman represents than for his football ideas.
Far from discussions about which football school does he represent, so typical in Argentina with the disciples of Bilardo, Menotti, subsequently followed by Bielsa, Bianchi or Pekerman, Scaloni appears to be ready to burn all the football commandments. He is not a fan of any football scheme in particular, and he is not shy to say that playing with 5 in the back is an option that he likes a lot. Twenty years ago, that quote alone would have meant having half of the country criticising him.
Society and football has changed. Van Gaal admits that playing attractive attacking football like Ajax team he created is no longer possible. “I’ve changed the perspective for World Cup 2014 and everyone now imitates that style,” he said. He has his own detractors in the Dutch press, as it could be heard during the MD-1 press conference.
Scaloni also thinks the sentence “team that wins should not be touched” is outdated, another sacred commandment for footballers. Besides, he is willing to make substitutions at positions considered at risk, like replacing defenders in the middle of the game and forcing ‘cold’ players to respond immediately at hot moments, as it was the case with Lisandro Martinez, Romero, Montiel and Tagliafico in this FIFA World Cup. “Having four players for attacking purposes and six players for defensive duties is no longer an option, as Van Gaal says, now everyone has to attack and everyone has to defend,” he says.
During the MD-1 press conference here in Doha, he responded angrily when he was suggested that his team plays a 4-3-3. “I don’t remember if my team ever played 4-3-3. If we have a classic right winger, then who’s the left winger? We don’t have one,” he shrugged. In this World Cup alone, he has played 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, 5-3-2 and 4-2-3-1.
For tactics and for man management, Scaloni doesn’t like labels or tags. “Football is just a game, and we only give everything to win, whatever happens, playing very well or not so well, our mission is that people feel connected to this team,” he says.
His main credo is that everyone has to be fully fit to play and he’s ready to be as harsh as Van Gaal was in his beginnings. In fact, he was not afraid of breaking the so-called internal peace by doing something forbidden by the football codes - sending back home two players, Joaquin Correa and Nicolas Gonzalez, that were already in Qatar with the squad, days before the World Cup started.
Scaloni, who is doing his first experience as manager, guides Argentina since 2018. After the Russia 2018 disastrous expedition, he was the only coach left with a contract at the Argentinian Football Association. He was asked to put together a team of young players to represent them at L’Alcudia youth tournament. First as caretaker, he continued until being officially appointed as national team manager and guiding Argentina to the first official title since 1993, the Copa America lifted at Maracaná against Brazil in 2021. His story is, for modern football, as spectacular as anachronistic.
More than thinking of football schemes or telephone number tactics, he wants to conceive football from the emotional side, the old game of chasing and being chased, hunting and being hunted. And when it comes to this, he does not know the meaning of fear.
From all the managers he had, none had the impact of Javier Irureta, who coached him at Deportivo La Coruña. Low-profile, balanced and far from the spotlight, Irureta managed to create the second generation of El Super Depor that finally won the Liga title in the 1999/2000 season, with Scaloni as 12th player.
Fittingly, that title came after beating Van Gaal’s Barcelona. Louis, the eminence, resigned afterwards.
Tomorrow, at 10 pm at Lusail Stadium, Scaloni and Van Gaal will meet again.
Far from discussions about which football school does he represent, so typical in Argentina with the disciples of Bilardo, Menotti, subsequently followed by Bielsa, Bianchi or Pekerman, Scaloni appears to be ready to burn all the football commandments. He is not a fan of any football scheme in particular, and he is not shy to say that playing with 5 in the back is an option that he likes a lot. Twenty years ago, that quote alone would have meant having half of the country criticising him.
Society and football has changed. Van Gaal admits that playing attractive attacking football like Ajax team he created is no longer possible. “I’ve changed the perspective for World Cup 2014 and everyone now imitates that style,” he said. He has his own detractors in the Dutch press, as it could be heard during the MD-1 press conference.
Scaloni also thinks the sentence “team that wins should not be touched” is outdated, another sacred commandment for footballers. Besides, he is willing to make substitutions at positions considered at risk, like replacing defenders in the middle of the game and forcing ‘cold’ players to respond immediately at hot moments, as it was the case with Lisandro Martinez, Romero, Montiel and Tagliafico in this FIFA World Cup. “Having four players for attacking purposes and six players for defensive duties is no longer an option, as Van Gaal says, now everyone has to attack and everyone has to defend,” he says.
During the MD-1 press conference here in Doha, he responded angrily when he was suggested that his team plays a 4-3-3. “I don’t remember if my team ever played 4-3-3. If we have a classic right winger, then who’s the left winger? We don’t have one,” he shrugged. In this World Cup alone, he has played 4-3-3, 4-1-4-1, 5-3-2 and 4-2-3-1.
For tactics and for man management, Scaloni doesn’t like labels or tags. “Football is just a game, and we only give everything to win, whatever happens, playing very well or not so well, our mission is that people feel connected to this team,” he says.
His main credo is that everyone has to be fully fit to play and he’s ready to be as harsh as Van Gaal was in his beginnings. In fact, he was not afraid of breaking the so-called internal peace by doing something forbidden by the football codes - sending back home two players, Joaquin Correa and Nicolas Gonzalez, that were already in Qatar with the squad, days before the World Cup started.
Scaloni, who is doing his first experience as manager, guides Argentina since 2018. After the Russia 2018 disastrous expedition, he was the only coach left with a contract at the Argentinian Football Association. He was asked to put together a team of young players to represent them at L’Alcudia youth tournament. First as caretaker, he continued until being officially appointed as national team manager and guiding Argentina to the first official title since 1993, the Copa America lifted at Maracaná against Brazil in 2021. His story is, for modern football, as spectacular as anachronistic.
More than thinking of football schemes or telephone number tactics, he wants to conceive football from the emotional side, the old game of chasing and being chased, hunting and being hunted. And when it comes to this, he does not know the meaning of fear.
From all the managers he had, none had the impact of Javier Irureta, who coached him at Deportivo La Coruña. Low-profile, balanced and far from the spotlight, Irureta managed to create the second generation of El Super Depor that finally won the Liga title in the 1999/2000 season, with Scaloni as 12th player.
Fittingly, that title came after beating Van Gaal’s Barcelona. Louis, the eminence, resigned afterwards.
Tomorrow, at 10 pm at Lusail Stadium, Scaloni and Van Gaal will meet again.
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